It was at a publishing company that Scott Hooten, creative director at Imulus design + interactive, learned to design and organize large amounts of content into intuitive structures. It's a skill that's proven extremely useful in Web design.

05.02.07

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What's currently your favorite site/project? Or, what site do you
look at every day? Digg.com.

What's the subject/topic of it? Originally it was mostly tech news, but it's grown to include news of all types.

What makes this news site so special? The stories are submitted by users and when people like them, they assign a "digg it" rating to it. The more "diggs" a story gets, the higher up the list it moves. The best stories remain on the homepage where they get more page views. It's a very democratic system and by virtue, visitors get to see a lot of great stories that aren't necessarily in mass media.

What makes it technically compelling? The algorithms for moving stories up or down is extremely complex and the AJAX-based user interface functions perfectly. And if you want to go even deeper, they have Flash visualization tools that allow visitors to see stories being introduced and gaining and losing popularity in real-time.

How would you improve it? Or would you? A graphic design section would be nice.

What's your job? I'm co-founder and creative director of Imulus design interactive in Boulder, Colorado. We primarily create interactive solutions and integrated marketing materials for technology companies. We have this knack for explaining and marketing obscure technologies that seem to defy explanation.

If you have a degree in what field is it? I have a BS in graphic design from Cal Poly SLO and a Masters in graphic design from Savannah College of Art and Design.

How did you get involved in this industry? I always loved to draw, so for a long while I was sure I wanted to be a comic book artist. However, in high school I learned that my aunt was a graphic designer; I was excited to discover that I could actually get paid to do this stuff. After school I got a part time job at a small advertising and PR firm and then a full time job at a publishing company. The work there wasn't the most exciting, but I learned a lot about designing and organizing books and series of books. This has proven to be very useful in Web design where organizing large amounts of content into an intuitive structure is vitally important.

What's your biggest Web (design) turn-off? Long-loading Flash sites that leave users trying to figure out how to navigate the site, like it's a mystery to be solved. And don't get me started on those that realize no one is going to figure them out and therefore put instructions on the homepage.

Who, in this industry (or not), has been your biggest inspiration? John Mendenhall, a design instructor at Cal Poly had a tremendous impact on me as a designer. I had corporate identity, editorial design, design history and probably a few other classes with him and he always knew how to inspire me and push me to the next level. He passed away a few years after I graduated and he is sorely missed by the school and everyone who knew him.

What's the weirdest thing you've bought online? Well, I don't know if I would describe it as weird, but I did buy my dad the movie Captain Ron on DVD. I figure I was probably one of about four people who ever actually bought that movie from Amazon (or were willing to admit it). It was well worth the nine bucks though, because I think he's watched it at least 30 times.

What do you do in your spare time? Spare time? Who's got spare time? Actually in the little I do have, I enjoy running (just over three weeks until BolderBoulder07) and spending time with my wife and two kids (seven and five). All that running helps me keep up with them.

What music is on your playlist? Imogen Heap, Natalie Walker, Beck, Leigh Nash, and anything else I can stuff on my new iPod shuffle to go for a run.

What product/gadget can you not live without? My 1995 Montego Blue Miata. It's not the most practical car for Colorado but I get to feel like a race car driver everyday. It reminds me that the most direct route between two points usually isn't the most fun.

What's your dream computer set-up? I used to think my dad's old Mac SE was pretty cool, but I think I am going to have to go with a MacBook Pro with a 30" display.